No Moss on This Stone!

Greetings, Blog Hoppers, Fibernauts, and readers of all ilk.

It seems since I finished the heart image 'Flow' a few weeks ago, my creative floodgates have sprung wide open! I can't stop making stuff, have been..gasp..rising early to make stuff.

As a thank you to the group of adults that led my children's summer theater experience, I made these:

More magic card holders. They are so much fun to use and these were especially meaningful with webs on the front, pigs on the back:

Note the initials spun into the back webs.

Since then, it's been all fabric painting, all the time, though there's not much to show for my effort yet. Marking fabric also requires prep and I've been going through all my old screens, putting on new mesh, getting them taped.

So here's a piece that has a good base of color on it:

Somehow, I think it needs more and am mulling it over for a time. It might need some discharge and an additional color painted in...hmmmm...

And here's a piece that's done:

This one's been worked over pretty well...at least three different layers of stuff going on. I started with some pre printed screens and release paste, then did a layer of discharge paste with screens and free hand painting. The last layer was adding in turquoise and gold. Oh, one more touch: black opaque paint. Could I have tortured it any more? I'm pretty sure it was screaming, 'ENOUGH, Already!' by the end.

Then, in a fit of late night creativity, I decided to throw down a screen with some red and brown dyes:

This will definitely not be yardage. I think it's going to be whole cloth quilted. This left turn from my normal over-the-top collage has left me surprised and I'm not sure what to make of it yet. The rinsed and drying piece appears much bloodier than I intended...I think. And I'm a bit repulsed by my own work. There needs to be more dye painting....

If you've watched this blog for any length of time, you'll recognize the woman in the image. She's been hanging around as a screen for a while and recently, I thought she'd be a large collage piece. Maybe not.

And if that wasn't scary enough, behind every photo of clothes line fabric, lurks...The Creature....

AAAAAggggghhhh!

Eye for Fiber Meeting, July

Below you'll find a group of design teasers I led at my monthly fiber group meeting. The writing's a bit dry, but hey---I can't be all fabulous all the time. Can I? Working with paper was quick and dirty...and FUN! So, break out those magazines and get cookin'.

First up, we picked one color, a more intense version of that color, and it's complement. Then we cut out graphic designs to make positive/negative images.


Secondly, we chose complementary colors, then chose more paper to create an analogous + complement color scheme. We used the analogous colors to fill space.


Lastly, we did a group exercise, round robin style:

This was great fun!

How could these exercises translate into fiber? The first one might be interesting as thread painting or quilting. What if a design is quilted in yellow thread on black fabric? What if it's black thread on yellow fabric?

Could the analogous color exercise be used to design a literal image such as a face? How might this idea translate into a traditional quilt block?

The elements in our final exercise pull it all together. We started by dividing space (anything but in half!), then we added text, black and white elements, printed image, and finally filled out the design to balance it. Think of all the ways you could add these elements with fiber......

You Are Now Screenland

Greetings, Fibernauts! Welcome to my new show 'Screen Print Crazy Amounts of T-shirts'!

Here we have props:

...shirts, transparency with design, neon paint, mostly clean table.

Next, we set the stage:

The screen has been coated with photo emulsion, allowed to dry, and is now being exposed for 14 minutes. This involves details and care, never my strong suit.

Proceed to botch the screen completely beyond recognition. The words I'm searching for, I can't say, because there are preschool toys are present.

I think the emulsion was too thick and not dry enough. This destruction occurred during the post exposure rinse out.

And again...sigh....

This try was successful due to more care and patience. I get bonus points for using bottle of toilet cleaner used as glass weight.

Here the screen is mounted on a printing frame my husband made for mostly FREE. The 'real' version was about $150.00.

Note the beloved squeegee. Oh how I love green.

Shirts everywhere, drying, waiting for heat setting.


And, the front:


What's not to love?